Rental Car thread

[93JC]

2002, 2004; whatever, close enough.

We got pretty much all the Mitsubishi products through Chrysler. We didn't get the Eclipse but we got the Talon and Plymouth Laser. We didn't get the Galant, but we got the Eagle/Dodge 2000GTX. Etc.

[12,000 RPM]

93JC tell us about your GLA rental.

[2o6]

93JC tell us about your GLA rental.

I think he uses car 2 go a lot. The CLA and GLA are the big car rentals

[93JC]

I do use Car2Go a lot, and that's exactly how and why I've driven so many of them. As such it's not as though I'm forming opinions based on some closed-course event at a show, or some test drive with a sales prick: I've driven many different examples many times in real-world traffic in all conditions.

Here're my opinions on the B250, CLA250 and GLA250:

I drove a new Mercedes-Benz B250 last night. What a turd. Things I liked: the ride is okay, the interior is okay, and it's very quiet.

It has a 208 hp 2.0 L turbocharged four, and you wouldn't know it had any more than about 130 hp when driving about town. All of the blame can be laid at the feet of the atrocious 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Daimler can't design a good transaxle for transverse applications to save their lives. First gear is too short and the throttle response is terrible; you have to put your foot three quarters of the way to the floor to reasonably keep up with city traffic from a standstill, whereupon the transmission will do a herky-jerky dance into second gear at about 18 km/h. Once in second it starts to pick up some steam. As a result every single stoplight is a rope-a-dope attempt at building speed.

People who buys these things must be desperate to have a Mercedes-Benz badge on the hood of their car because anyone who cross-shopped it with anything else would be hard-pressed to justify spending money on one. For the $32,000+ this thing costs it ought to be "good", and the kindest judge would give this car a verdict of merely "okay" at best.

The problem I had with the B250's 7-speed dual-clutch was mostly first gear: it's too short, and the shift to second gear is jerky. The new Smart ForTwo's six-speed has the exact same problem. Once up to speed the shifts are okay, but getting off the line is terrible. I haven't had any seat time in a CLA or GLA yet (Car2Go just started offering them for rent about a week ago) but I suspect it's very much the same as the B-class.

Drove a CLA250 last night.

The driver's seat did have plenty of leg room, but getting in I bumped my head on the A-pillar, and leaning forward to find the steering wheel tilt-telescope release I bumped my head on the headliner. This car is preposterously short of practical head room; the entire roof line is a moronic concession to 'style' over substance. Rear seat room is, as Tave said, practically non-existent. This is a four-door car but in practice you wouldn't want to subject any adult passengers to the back seats.

Unlike the B-classes I've driven and Tave's assessment I found the 7-speed in this thing was actually pretty smooth. The problem is first is still far too short, and I found if I drove the car leisurely it would downshift to 2nd rather than all the way to 1st at stop lights. The programming is aggressively 'thrifty', upshifting whenever it can. I puttered along a stretch of 70 km/h (40 mph, fairly low-speed) freeway on my way home last night and the transmission went into 7th gear at around 65 km/h. When I started up a gentle slope, a gradual undulation in the road, it had to shift down to 6th to maintain speed and jumped back into 7th on the way down. The car has power but it does not want you to use it, and like the B250s I've driven it doesn't feel very swift at all.

I will give it props for being very quiet though.

Drove a GLA250 4Matic yesterday; pretty much exactly the same as the CLA, just more head room. Not terrible, but I couldn't imagine paying the $40,700 MSRP.

With respect to the GLA, it has more headroom than the CLA but not much. I drove another one to work this morning and 'measured' headroom at one or two fingers' worth, so... maybe an inch, inch-and-a-half. This is with the seat as low as it can go, mind you. It would probably improve dramatically if it didn't have a sunroof.

The CLA's suspension is pretty stiff, and the GLA's is even more so. It's mostly fine on good pavement, but crashes and bangs on choppier stuff.

Another thought I didn't touch on before: 4Matic is useless in these cars. I don't know how the system works, presumably a computer-controlled clutch of some sort sending power to the rear wheels. I've gotten stuck in the snow in a CLA250 4Matic; the rear wheels did nothing.

There are other niggling things I simply don't like about them, but they are things one might just put down to personal preference:

• I like that the front seats have an adjustment for thigh support, but the CLA doesn't have an adjustable head restraint. The GLA seats are more comfortable as such, but I dislike the (power) lumbar support on both. The back seats in the CLA really are pretty much totally useless when the front seats are adjusted for anyone over 5'-3"; they're pretty tight in the GLA too, probably about the same as my Mazda.
• I really don't like the HVAC controls—they're mounted too low and the push-buttons are more cumbersome to use than knobs. I don't like the radio/nav controls either, which rely entirely on the little knob joystick thingamajig in the centre console (where the gear shift ought to be, see below...) to adjust on the LCD display stuck to the dash.
• I don't like the Mercedes-Benz column shift at all: the stalk is the exact same size as the one on the left side of the column used for signal lights and wiper controls, and because I'm still used to driving my own car I've inadvertently pushed on the button on the end trying to get the windshield washers to spritz. (In the Mazda the right stalk controls wipers.) In the Benzes you push the button on the end to shift into Park...  As such I'm lucky the electronics prevent you from shifting into Park at speed, otherwise I would have trashed a few transmissions over the last few months. An entirely avoidable scenario if they just used a conventional shifter.

Interior quality is okay. Not bad, but not great, just okay. Outward visibility is very much compromised. The CLA in particular would be almost dangerous to drive if not for the blindspot monitoring system and rear-view camera.

[12,000 RPM]

Well on the upside it is still technically a Mercedes

[93JC]

 

[veeman]

Was in Aruba earlier this week on vacation.  Amazing island.  Unlike most Caribbean islands, this one is mostly a desert with lots of cacti.  It's a dry heat with lots of wind.  Beautiful beaches and safe to travel by rental car as economically its doing quite well. Kind of weird knowing Venezuela is only 20 miles away.  Went on an off-road trip by a company labeled Safari Jeep in which most of the cars were ancient Land Rover Defenders (painted with the words Safari Jeep, lol).  That was a ton of fun.

As a rental I had a 3rd generation Suzuki Grand Vitara.  It drove fine although the island is so small, there are no highways so I couldn't feel what it was like at high speeds.  Few things I notice.  The SUV is smaller than most two row SUVs sold in the U.S. but had good room in the front and backseats.  Lack of back up camera sucks once you get used to it. It was also very annoying I couldn't open up the hatch without turning off the car, taking the key out of the ignition, and physically exiting the car and closing the driver's side door.  All the SUVs I've had before or rented before, you could unlock the hatch as long as the car was in "Park" with the engine still running. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Rocking a Jeep Renegade. Definitely economy car, dressed up as a cool off-roader. It's got the trail badge. Kinda small, if they spent as much on the internals as the silly Jeep marks in the mirrors and 1941 on the radio etc... And it could be a decent car.

[Laconian]

Husband is in Mountain View. Focus, Sentra, RAV4, Rogue.

WWJD?

[CALL_911]

Husband is in Mountain View. Focus, Sentra, RAV4, Rogue.

WWJD?

Focus. I quite like the current Focus.

[12,000 RPM]

Focus is the obvious choice. I've had a few, from US sedans to brown French wagons. Never disappointed.

[Xer0]

Husband is in Mountain View. Focus, Sentra, RAV4, Rogue.

WWJD?

Walk or ride a bike.

[Laconian]

Walk or ride a bike.

That's what I tell him, but he likes sitting in traffic on "The 101", I guess.

[Laconian]

Also, he picked a RAV4. He says it's a good car, but a bit too floaty and the steering overboosted versus the Subie.

[Morris Minor]

My sister called from Massachusetts
"I've got a very nice Maxima!"

I think there must be some new law dictating that all Nissans must be consigned to rental fleets.

[12,000 RPM]

To be fair, the Maxima is very nice. I'm hoping to get one for my long term rental.

[12,000 RPM]

2017 Caravan. No Bluetooth

[68_427]

2017 Caravan. No Bluetooth

Trade it for a truck.  Be NC

[68_427]

Speaking of I'm going to Raleigh for memorial weekend.  Thought about going to Charlotte for the race Sunday but nah.  Might do a day trip anyways

[Rich]

Speaking of I'm going to Raleigh for memorial weekend.  Thought about going to Charlotte for the race Sunday but nah.  Might do a day trip anyways

go see things on saturday.  Less people, still get to do/see the exhibits set up, shorter race, cheaper, etc...

[MX793]

My sister called from Massachusetts
"I've got a very nice Maxima!"

I think there must be some new law dictating that all Nissans must be consigned to rental fleets.

Since GM has tried to scale back on fleet sales, Nissan and Hyundai/Kia have been duking it out for rental fleet dominance.

[Speed_Racer]

I had a Yaris in NC. I was betting on getting an upgrade to maybe a Corolla but alas...they didn't. TLDR: The Yaris is a POS clown car.

Tons of wind noise, a thrashy motor mated to a four-spd trans, and it would not track straight - wind and pavement grooves would throw it around in a lane. Plus no cruise control because FU you're poor. And I only got about 32 mpg fwy.

Then one side of the rear bumper cover came unclipped and flapped in the breeze until I taped it down, and a front wheel-well liner came unclipped (probably because I hit an animal in the dark) and got chewed up by the tire. Horrible little car, two thumbs down.

[68_427]

go see things on saturday.  Less people, still get to do/see the exhibits set up, shorter race, cheaper, etc...

The problem is the people I'm going down with aren't fans.  I could have probably convinced them to try the all star race since it's short, and pit passes are cheap but it's the wrong weekend.

[12,000 RPM]

Another Maxima. Damn this thing is good. Kind of feeling the big quasi luxury barge thing.

[dazzleman]

Was in Aruba earlier this week on vacation.  Amazing island.  Unlike most Caribbean islands, this one is mostly a desert with lots of cacti.  It's a dry heat with lots of wind.  Beautiful beaches and safe to travel by rental car as economically its doing quite well. Kind of weird knowing Venezuela is only 20 miles away.  Went on an off-road trip by a company labeled Safari Jeep in which most of the cars were ancient Land Rover Defenders (painted with the words Safari Jeep, lol).  That was a ton of fun.

As a rental I had a 3rd generation Suzuki Grand Vitara.  It drove fine although the island is so small, there are no highways so I couldn't feel what it was like at high speeds.  Few things I notice.  The SUV is smaller than most two row SUVs sold in the U.S. but had good room in the front and backseats.  Lack of back up camera sucks once you get used to it. It was also very annoying I couldn't open up the hatch without turning off the car, taking the key out of the ignition, and physically exiting the car and closing the driver's side door.  All the SUVs I've had before or rented before, you could unlock the hatch as long as the car was in "Park" with the engine still running.

You still have to put the key in the ignition?  I didn't think any cars like that were left.  Glad you liked Aruba, man.  I have never been there.

[dazzleman]

The problem is the people I'm going down with aren't fans.  I could have probably convinced them to try the all star race since it's short, and pit passes are cheap but it's the wrong weekend.

Did you ever make it to the auto show in April?

[dazzleman]

Also, he picked a RAV4. He says it's a good car, but a bit too floaty and the steering overboosted versus the Subie.

I'm looking into a rental car for when I come to Seattle in August.  I'm going to be ataying at one of the hotels you recommended in Kirkland.

[dazzleman]

My sister called from Massachusetts
"I've got a very nice Maxima!"

I think there must be some new law dictating that all Nissans must be consigned to rental fleets.

I'm thinking I'll go for a Maxima when I do a car rental in Seattle in August.

[CaminoRacer]

You still have to put the key in the ignition?  I didn't think any cars like that were left.  Glad you liked Aruba, man.  I have never been there.

Aruba is dope. Super clear water, white sand, and it's always a perfect 82° F with no humidity.

I went the year before the natural bridge collapsed.

[Xer0]

I'll be in Tokyo from 07/18-07/21.  Among the many cool things to do in Japan, what I'm looking forward to the most is renting fun JDM cars that I can't get a hold of in the US.  I have a request for a tour around Mt. Fuji right now in an R34, NA1 NSX, and 4th gen Supra.  Its like a 6 hour thing with sight seeing and all that jazz.  Pretty fucking excited.